Super fast or super slow? A tale of three UK airports

Heathrow shows a surprising ability to cope with a Border Force strike, while Birmingham and Stansted face queue driven delays. But Simon Calder says passengers can help too

- Simon Calder

My working week began, unusually, at the exit gates from the Heathrow Express at London Paddington station. The reason: the current UK Border Force strike at Heathrow airport had begun. The airport authorities had politely declined my request to report from the scene on how the walkout by passport control staff was affecting inbound passengers. The next best thing: asking those travellers who had taken the fast route to central London about their border experience.

Try as I might, I could not find anyone who had encountered any significant queue.

“Super fast”, reported a gentleman who had just arrived from Dallas before he hurtled off for his meeting. Angie, a Delta passenger from Boston, told me: “It was kind of ridiculously easy – no people in front of me. I put my passport down [for the eGate], it beeped and I was through.”

Some passengers, particularly those from the many countries ineligible to use the eGates, may have faced longer waits. But at that very moment, travellers from Stansted and Birmingham airports were missing flights because of long queues.